Northern India conjures up memorable and colourful images including turbans, saris, great food and rickshaws. We visit the 'Pink City' of Jaipur, home to the wonderful former Maharaja's Palace and the splendid hilltop Amber Fort. Agra and the serene Taj Mahal are not to be missed and fully live up to expectations. We explore mystical Pushkar, where you will have the option of a ride by camel cart, passing through timeless villages on the way. For a change in pace we visit the tranquil Ranthambore National Park where we hope to see the elusive tiger!

Itinerary

Show detailed itinerary

1Day 1Start Delhi; afternoon sightseeing in Delhi.

Arrive in Delhi and transfer to our hotel. Those who have made their own flight arrangements will join us at the hotel in the morning. After lunch we will have a tour of the capital. In Old Delhi we visit the Red Fort (if you arrive in Delhi on a Monday you will visit an alternative site as the Red Fort is closed) and Jama Masjid (India's largest mosque) and in New Delhi we drive past the fine colonial buildings. Built by the British Raj in the early years of the 20th century and set in spacious tree-lined boulevards these now house various Indian governmental departments.See more images and videos

We leave Delhi in the morning and take the early train to Agra, site of some of the most famous attractions in the world. During the day we visit the imposing Red Fort of Akbar, whose mighty sandstone walls enclose the beautiful white marble Pearl Mosque and the palaces, halls, courtyards and fountains of his sons and successors, Jehangir and Shah Jahan. Agra also offers a wide variety of handicrafts including jewellery, inlaid and carved marble, carpets and clothes and there will be free time to explore and visit the wonderful handicraft emporiums. There will be some free time in the afternoon to relax at the hotel or for individual exploration.See more images and videos

A very early start to see the incredible spectacle of the sunrise over the Taj Mahal. The Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631, built this beautiful monument. The Taj is serenely beautiful and never fails to amaze a first time visitor; the white marble exterior changes colour according to the position of the sun throughout the day and is matched by a rich interior detail. After our visit it's time to leave Agra and drive to Bharatpur via the deserted ancient city of Fatehpur Sikri. Children love to roam here amongst the ruins so it is fun for all. Formally the capital of the Mughal Empire, this wonderfully preserved 'ghost town' was constructed by Emperor Akabar between 1570 and 1585 and reflects his ideals in art, religion and architecture. This impressive and well-preserved citadel became his capital in 1571, after the blessing of a local Moslem holy man correctly predicted the birth of a longed-for son, his successor the Emperor Jehangir. But this magnificence only lasted 14 years, as in 1584 Akbar left Fatehpur Sikri to secure his outlying territories, leaving this city much as we see it today. The site is one of the most atmospheric in northern India, its position on a ridge overlooking the modern village below and wonderful state of preservation provide us with a taste of this city's majestic past.

It's best to start early to catch the best of the bird life that inhabits the park. Listed as a world-heritage site the bird sanctuary at Keoladeo Ghana National Park is a truly relaxing experience and a world away from the common perception of bustling India. This region was originally semi arid only filling with water during the monsoon season. The Maharaja of Bharatpur diverted water from a nearby irrigation canal and it was converted into a bird sanctuary in 1956. There are now over 360 species of birds to be found there including an array of Egrets, Ducks, Coots, Storks, Kingfishers, Owls, Eagles and Harriers. We spend our time exploring by cycle rickshaw, a traditional form of transport in India, and unlike anything we use in the west! Leaving Bharatpur behind we head to Ranthambore National Park by train. Formally a hunting reserve, the area is now a part of Project Tiger and home to a number of wild tiger.See more images and videos

5Day 5Morning and evening game drives.

At Ranthambore we stay in a lodge, not far from the park entrance, with all the basic facilities, a swimming pool and a lovely garden. We have 2 game drives into the park, our first will be in the morning when we travel in a large open truck (called a canter) from which we have unobstructed views of the park and the animals. We have a break during the heat of the day before our second drive in the late afternoon/evening. Ranthambore is one of India's tiger reserves under Project Tiger. Sadly, after initial success, poaching has drastically reduced the tiger population but many Exodus groups over the last four years have seen tigers. Other wildlife includes several species of monkey, deer, crocodiles and birdlife, which together with the scenery, make the visit well worth it.See more images and videos

6Day 6Train to Jaipur through rural Rajasthan.

Leaving the park we take the train to the capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur. The Indian railway system is an integral part of its infrastructure and no trip here would be complete without this experience, we therefore take the opportunity to travel by train several times throughout this trip. The trains are often busy and people are always eager to strike up conversation. This is a fantastic experience for children and adults alike. In the afternoon you can explore Jaipur or relax at the hotel.

7Day 7Sightseeing day including City Palace, Jantar Mantar and Amber Palace.

A day of exploration. The Pink City of Jaipur is one of the most attractive and colourful cities in India. Rajah Jai Singh decided to abandon his nearby fortress and palace at Amber in 1727 and laid out a planned city of broad avenues, built of sandstone and painted pink at a later stage. In the centre of Jaipur is the City Palace, formerly the residence of the Maharaja, it is now a fine museum containing rare manuscripts, paintings, royal garments and weapons. Close to the palace is one of the most intriguing sights of India, the observatory of Jai Singh. This is an assembly of immense astronomical instruments made of marble and brass set in a pleasant garden. We will also see Jaipur's impressive landmark, the Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the Winds. A few miles from the main city is the splendid Amber Palace, rising above a lake. The imposing hilltop fort contains large courtyards and interiors with fine decoration. We walk up the hill and through the massive gateway to the courtyard. Jaipur is a centre of many handicrafts, such as durries (woven rugs), carpets, printed cloth, semi-precious stones, leatherwear etc.; it will be difficult to leave a workshop without buying anything!See more images and videos

8Day 8To Pushkar, optional traditional village visit by camel cart.

We head to Pushkar, pilgrimage town and home to the annual Pushkar Camel Fair. The town is steeped in mysticism and we can take a late afternoon camel ride (optional), as the sun goes down, for an atmospheric view of the surrounding scenery.

Your images

Family group

Family group holidays that you and your family can enjoy together. These trips are active, adventurous and provide the perfect blend of exploration and sociability.

Activity level

You are healthy, enjoy the outdoors and want a relaxing trip. No experience is required.

What's included

What's included

All breakfasts, 2 lunches and 2 dinners

All accommodation (see below)

All transport and listed activities

Tour leader throughout

Flights from London (if booking incl. flights)

What's not included

Travel insurance

Single accommodation (available on request)

Visas or vaccinations

Accommodation details

Hotels & Lodges

You will spend 9 nights in comfortable hotels and lodges, all of the hotels selected have en-suite rooms with air-conditioning and are mostly 3 and 4 star. They generally have excellent facilities and many are centrally located. All hotels have swimming pools, except in Delhi.

Single supplements are available from £165.

Essential info

Vaccinations and Visa
Visas are required if you are British and for most other nationalities. To apply for the Indian visa yourself you will need to go through the Indian High Commission's VF service (http://in.vfsglobal.co.uk) and visit one of their centres in person or use a visa agency, such as Travcour, to do visit for you. The current visa fee for British passport holders is GBP82 (plus a service charge of GBP7.44). For UK residents full details of the visa process will be provided with your booking confirmation.
There are no mandatory vaccination requirements. Recommended vaccinations are: Polio, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Typhoid, Hepatitis A. The risk of malaria is slight but you may wish to consult your GP or travel health clinic for further advice. Dengue fever is a known risk in places visited. It is a tropical viral disease spread by daytime biting mosquitoes. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available for Dengue, and therefore the best form of prevention is to avoid being bitten. We recommend you take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites.
Some of our India trips spend time at altitude. In regions over approx. 2000m, there is low to no risk of mosquito-borne diseases. For trips going to altitudes of over 3000m there is a risk of being affected by Acute Mountain Sickness. Our itineraries are designed to enable everyone to acclimatise to these altitudes, but you should be aware that it is still possible for you to be affected. Please see the TRIP NOTES for further information. Holiday style

The roads are generally pretty good, but local traffic and/or road damage after the monsoon can sometimes slow us down.
The tour is not overly demanding, but some of the days can be busy, where travelling is combined with sightseeing. At times it can be quite hot and dusty (except December) and the bustle of the Indian cities can be tiring.
Together with our local operator we have put together a pictorial quiz featuring many of the historical sites this trip visits. This will be given to children on the trip and is terrific fun as well as being somewhat educational in content.

Eating & drinking

In the itinerary we state which meals are included on which day.
Breakfast is included throughout the trip, except for day 1 of the itinerary as you should be given breakfast on the flight. If you do want another breakfast it costs approx. GBP3 (USD5) at the hotel in Delhi. You should allow at least GBP12 (USD20) per day for lunch and dinner. You can eat out very cheaply in India, but if you go to the more expensive restaurants most of the time, you will spend more than the suggested amount. In most of the towns there is a good choice of restaurants and a choice between Indian and basic Western style food. If you are a vegetarian India is probably one of the best destinations to travel to with a wide range of dishes on offer. Tea and soft drinks are very cheap. A (large!) bottle of beer is approx. GBP3 (USD5). Mineral water is widely available. Please note that service in restaurants can be quite slow.

Trip notes

Download the detailed trip notes for everything you could possibly want
to know about this trip, including detailed itinerary and full kit list.

Weather & seasonality

During October/November and February/March/April the days are normally warm to hot and nights cool or mild. Humidity is very low and little or no rain can be expected. In March, April and October it can get very hot during the day. Evenings in Delhi can be surprisingly cool. It gets very cold in the early mornings and evenings in December and January and warm clothes are essential. Fog is also a real possibility during this period. Please note that night time temperatures in Delhi can be very cold and only a little above freezing in December and January.

The evenings and early mornings (particularly at Ranthambore Tiger Reserve) can be surprisingly cool, so bring a jumper as well as sun hat, sun cream and sunglasses.

Departures in May and August will be considerably hotter (see chart below) than at other times of the year. Air-conditioned vehicles will be used, and all hotels have swimming pools, which will give an opportunity to cool off.

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Reviews & community

One of the best holidays we have had! It's a full on experience-packed adventure from start to finish.

What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?

Every day contained many inspirational moments. They varied from the magnificent tranquility of an early morning trip to the Taj Mahal to a happy, colorful and welcoming Hindu festival (the people were truly lovely) to the lively experience of a Bollywood cinema trip. Travelling around by Tuk-tuk was a fantastic way of immersing yourself in among the busy crowds of people (and cows and other animals!) getting on with living their everyday lives.

What did you think of your group leader?

We cannot praise Chandra our group leader enough. He was outstandingly good. He was a very efficient organiser, incredibly knowledgeable and likable person who always went that extra mile to ensure that each person on the holiday had maximum enjoyment. We think that it is fair to say that Chandra made the holiday for us and without him our holiday would only have been a fraction of the experience.

Do you have any advice for potential travellers?

We are not big shoppers on holiday, but with hindsight we almost regret not taking full advantage of the wonderful variety of desirable and inexpensive handicrafts, art, jewelry and other goods available (especially in Jaipur).
If you are worried about Delhi Belly, then don't. Sensible precautions like using hand sanitiser before eating, drinking only bottled water etc kept all our group healthy. Chandra always chose well with regard to restaurants so that they were all of a good quality with freshly prepared food. This allowed us to enjoy the food without concern.
It has to be said that July/August is probably not the best time of year to visit Rajasthan, as the heat and humidity can be oppressive. However, the hotel rooms and Mr Singh's air conditioned mini-bus were welcome havens after busy hot days. It was supposed to be Monsoon season while we were there, but we only saw rain a couple of times as the rains were late this year. Other travellers may not be as lucky as we were.
This holiday was excellent for older teenagers and adults, but maybe less suitable for younger travellers who may also find the long journeys hard to bear.
Don't expect to see tigers in summer!

Is there anything else you would like to add?

If you like to experience very different cultures from our own, including different food, forms of transport (tuk-tuk, tricycle rickshaw, camel, elephant, train, bus), architecture, scenery etc then this is a hard holiday to beat It was very enjoyable as well as fantastically educational in a very relaxed way.

What a fabulous experience for myself and my 12 year old son. A great mixture of hectic city and relaxing times e.g bird santuary and tiger park. Exodus looked after us brilliantly, nothing was too much trouble to ensure that the children had a great, memorable time. Dinesh, our tour leader even allowed us fireworks during our desert stay at Pushar. We saw 3 tigers at Ranthambore on our first drive. We were first at the Taj Mahal to get the best photos before the tourist arrived. My son cried when Dinesh left us at Delhi airport for our flight home. India is not the easiest place to tour and pulls on your emotions and values in many different ways - but wouldn't have missed it for the world.

What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?

Sighting of 3 tigers on our first game drive.

What did you think of your group leader?

Fantastic and fascinating story teller. Extremely helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential travellers?

Accept India for what it is and remember to soak up every experience.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

The tour was an excellent introduction to India, from the colourful chaos of Delhi to the quiet, spectacular landscapes of the games parks to the beautiful temples and palaces. The organisation was good throughout and our guide was knowledgeable, personable and always engaging to ensure we enjoyed ourselves to the full.

What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?

The Taj and Amber Palace were particular highlights but the most memorable moment for both my son and me were the tiger sightings in Ranthambore. We were lucky enough to sight a tigress on the morning drive but in the afternoon we came within a few yards of a second tigress which we followed for about 40mins watching while it strolled through open forest and road tracks totally indifferent to all the humans in several trucks and Jeeps. We were even able to watch as it fed on a kill it had made earlier and were close enough to smell the carcass!

What did you think of your group leader?

I cannot recommend our guide Raj Sharma highly enough. His knowledge, organisation and enthusiasm was excellent throughout and he was always at hand if required. He was very good with the children and organised a cake and puppet show for my son who celebrated his birthday while on tour. Every family in the group commented on how good he was and appreciated his inclusiveness.

Do you have any advice for potential travellers?

Try the food on the trains, you'll be surprised at how good it is! The market in Pushkar was very good for cheap gifts and you could browse without being hassled.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

My son (14yrs) thought this was the best holiday he has been on. We have travelled widely so this was praise indeed!

Questions about your trip

Pick your question

Can you recommend a good restuarant in Delhi?

A popular restaurant situated in Old Delhi on the ground floor of Hotel Broadway is the Chor Bizarre Restaurant. It has good selection of North Indian and Kashmiri cuisine. The hotel also regularly has Indian Cultural programme in the evenings that you are recommended to check with the hotel/restaurant beforehand for reservations should you want to watch it. Also being a popular restaurant it is advisable that you make an advance table booking to avoid disappointment.

Niraj Chand Shrestha - Customer Operations

Can I catch a Bollywood movie?!

Fancy a night out in India just like the locals? Head to a Bollywood movie and join the local in an evening packed with entertainment. The Bollywood masala movies are a mixture of dance, drama and musical with a break in between as most of these are lengthy 3 hours movies. This gives you the option to leave the theatre should you want to do that! The songs and dances make it like a 60’s musical where you could have the whole locals singing and dancing to the tune. Some movies become hits only because of these. Movie theatres that you may want to visit are; Raj Mandir in Jaipur, Odeon in Canaught Place, New Delhi, Filmistan, Karol Bagh in New Delhi - but all cities have theatres. A word of warning- try to avoid the rush when entering and exiting the theatre and the crowded area and keep valuables with close to you zipped at all times and enjoy the show.

Niraj Chand Shrestha - Customer Operations

Any good shopping tips for India?

Where do you start?! Half the joy of shopping in India is the sheer scale of what's on offer, from upscale boutiques in New Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta to the crowded and sweaty markets of pretty much any town or village you come to. Handicrafts, art, leather goods, spices, hand carved statues, silk, the list goes on - all the way to cheap knock offs of western brands!

Remember, outside of the proper shops, haggling is the key but don't waste your time trying to split the difference over a few pence - the best result is when everyone comes away happy!

Charlotte Taylor - India Operations

What kind of food should I expect around the Indian subcontinent?

There is a real mix available and you won't be disappointed! The local cuisine is predominantly vegetarian, with lots of rice. You can enjoy everything from traditional spicy curries to stalls selling tasty sweets and deserts and even right the way to western style grub, if it all gets a bit too much. Vegetarians and 'non-spicy' food people are easily catered for, and the leader will make sure a wide range of dishes are ordered for each meal.

Charlotte Taylor - Customer Operations

Do you have any advice about malaria and rabies?

Unfortunately we are not qualified to answer all your questions in regards to travel health, so we strongly recommend you contact your GP or a Travel Health Clinic at least 8 weeks prior to departure for up-to-date information.

Nomad Travel Clinics are experts in preparing people for travel, providing advice on vaccinations, anti-malarial and staying healthy whilst overseas. We have arranged a special 10% discount for Exodus passengers on any vaccinations that you may require! Take along your Nomad discount card, sent with your confirmation pack, or call Exodus for your special discount code.Visit www.nomadtravel.co.uk/exodus for further information.

I have some free time in Delhi - what should I see?

A definite place to visit when you have an extra day in Delhi is a trip to the new Akshardham Temple. Situated on the outskirts of New Delhi in the embankment of River Yamuna, this sprawling Swaminarayan Akshardham spreads over 100 acres of land and is renowned for its carved pillars, water fountains and 20,000 statues. Made from white marble and pink stone this new temple was only completed in 2005 which makes it less well known by Western tourists or the guide books. A visit to the temple is the perfect way to explore the amazing world of Indian culture and get a unique view of the Hindu religion. Other ‘must see’ places are the Red Fort, Humayum’s Tomb (a forerunner to the Taj Mahal), Qutab Minar, Tuqulaquabad, Purana Quila.The National Museum is very interesting as is the Gandhi Smriti, a museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi.

- Customer Operations

I've heard the 'Delhi Belly' rumours in India -will this be a problem?

India has delicious food to cater for all preferences but, like anywhere in the world, hygiene is important. Keeping your hands well washed before eating, staying as hydrated as possible and sticking to bottled water is the best protection against an upset tum. Otherwise, mashed potato is apparently a good cure!

Brendan Phelan - Customer Operations

Is it possible to get visas upon arrival?

No. Indian visas must be pre-arranged in advance. Check the Indian embassy website for details.

Land of the Tiger articles

Caroline Northcott, one of our clients, travelled on this trip a few years ago. Please read her inspirational article to get a personal viewpoint of the holiday.

Exodus staff - expertise on hand to help

All the staff at Exodus share a passion for adventure travel, and are always happy to answer any questions you may have. You can find an expert for the area you are interested in here and can contact them to get further information. If you don't see your specific country listed, please email customerops@exodus.co.uk and they will get the answers you need!

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To join in a discussion, if already a member, please sign in to your Exodus website account (not related to booking reservations) to contribute to the Forum. If you are not a member of the Exodus Community, you can register by clicking the 'Sign in' at the top of every webpage and select ‘Register’ within the drop down panel.

When viewing the Forum area of the website, as you scroll through the 'Rooms' which are set out by 'travel months' during the current year within the Departure Lounge. You can then select the 'month' of intended travel, then filter the list of trips that have already been created by fellow travellers to see if your trip is listed. If the trip you are travelling on is not in the list, you can start the process by clicking on the 'Post new forum topic' link above the list on the same page. If you do see your trip within the list, select it to view the 'discussion' by your fellow travellers and you can join in by completing the 'Post your comment' section below the discussion thread.

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We hope you enjoy using the Departure Lounge to meet your fellow travellers and continue to contribute right up to the start of your journey with Exodus.

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